Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

The 51st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology

Limbic system and autonomic nervous system

Takashi Ueyama, M.D., Ph.D.1) and Emiko Senba, M.D., Ph.D.2)

1)Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Wakayama Medical University School of Medicine
2)Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Wakayama Medical University School of Medicine

The viral transneuronal labeling method using pseudorabies virus (PRV) is an ideal technique for identifying the central sites that regulate the sympathetic nervous system. Regions were identified in limbic system such as extended amygdaloid complex, lateral septum, infralimbic, insular, ventromedial temporal cortical regions, as well as in several hypothalamic and brain stem nuclei. Emotional stress causes rapid and transient expression of immediate early genes (IEGs) such as c-Fos in the brain, and the monitoring of IEGs has enabled the visualization of the neurocircuitry of stress. By a comparison of the data from the separate PRV and c-Fos neuroanatomical labeling techniques, the central sites which regulate emotional stress-induced sympathoadrenal activation can be deduced. Estrogen receptors are expressed in the brain, where estrogen modulates central nervous function and autonomic nervous function. Estrogen attenuated the stress-induced c-Fos expression in medial amygdaloid nucleus, paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus; these same regions contain central sympathetic neurons and neurons with immunoreactive estrogen receptors.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (369K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 50: 1003|1006, 2010)
key words: Viral neurotracing, Expression of c-Fos, medial amygdaloid nucleus, estrogen

(Received: 22-May-10)